Man accused of distributing deadly heroin arrested by Marshals

ELYRIA — An Elyria man who was on the run after being accused of distributing “bad” heroin was arrested yesterday by U.S. Marshals.

Burnside

Brett Burnside, 29, of Elyria, was charged with possession of heroin and having weapons under disability, Lorain police detective A.J. Mathewson said in April.

According to Deputy Tony Keffer, U.S. Marshals Service task force coordinator for Lorain County, Burnside went on the run, and Marshals were looking for him for about a week before receiving a tip that he was at an Elyria hotel.

Marshals found him yesterday hiding underneath a bed beside a big pile of cash at the Quality Inn in Elyria, Keffer said.

Miscellaneous pills were also found in the room, Keffer said.

Keffer couldn’t say how long Marshals suspect Burnside has been at the hotel.

“We received a tip that he was there, and we know that the room has been rented out since Monday,” Keffer said.

At least two overdose deaths in the city of Lorain this spring had been tied to heroin obtained from Burnside and another man, Nicholas Kennedy, 36, of Amherst, Mathewson had said.

Kennedy was already indicted on three counts of trafficking in heroin as well as possession of criminal tools and possession of heroin.